97: State media sets the tone

The viewers in the livestream room were stunned for a moment, and then the place completely exploded.

“??? This is the official report??”

“Heh, I knew it. Brother Wo Zi is simply not that kind of person.”

“Moved to tears. That shout from Brother Wo Zi was truly heartbreaking to hear; not a single person in xiushui village was spared.”

“Brother Wo Zi, no one in Xiushui Village was hurt, but you...”

Zhao Yuling was stunned, Zhao Fu was stunned, and both of them looked toward Qiu Gu.

Zhao Yuling subconsciously turned the camera toward Qiu Gu.

At this moment, Qiu Gu's eyes were fixed on the screen. This middle-aged man could no longer hold it together and was crying uncontrollably.

“I'm guilty, I abandoned Xiaofan... sob... he told me to run first.”

“He told me to go back and notify the Program Production Crew... I said I wanted to wait for him.”

“I was terrified. I saw chunks of land disappearing before my eyes, turning into waves of mud.”

“Xiaofan, I'm sorry!”

Zhao Fu's face was full of anger, but looking at the middle-aged man weeping bitterly on camera, he suddenly felt a sense of relief; any human would be afraid.

But how did Brother Wo Zi have the courage?

The bullet chat speed did not slow down as more and more people flooded into the livestream room.

“I don't blame this big brother. If it were me, I would have turned and left too. In the face of such a natural disaster, humans are as weak as ants; fear is only human nature. But how did Brother Wo Zi have the courage to say 'don't wait for him,' and how could he be so calm as to think of the safety of the Xiushui Village Program Production Crew first!”

“Old fans all know how much Gao Xiaofan fears death. He said more than once during livestreams that he can't swim, and even if a fish might get away, he wouldn't have the slightest impulse to enter the water. Yet how did he dare...”

“I can't be as selfless as Brother Wo Zi, but that doesn't stop me from admiring him. A fan for life, never abandoning him!!!”

“Started with the floating corpse, liked him for the variety show, and finally stayed for his righteousness. A fan for life, never abandoning him!!!”

More and more bullet chats began to unify, forming a neat formation.

“Fan for life!!! Never abandoning!!!”

“Fan for life!!! Never abandoning!!!”

“Fan for life!!! Never abandoning!!!”

...Zhao Yuling, carrying the camera, aimed the lens back at the screen. Tears flowed uncontrollably from her eyes, and her sobbing voice echoed through the livestream room.

“From the camera we found... we saw... the last footage of Gao Xiaofan before he lost contact...”

“The mud waves were chasing... the land was dissolving... getting closer and closer to Gao Xiaofan.”

“Gao Xiaofan was... knocked to the ground, and then... swept into the debris flow...”

After speaking, Zhao Yuling covered her mouth, forcing herself not to let out a sob, her eyes staring fixedly at Gao Xiaofan as he rose and fell in the debris flow.

That small figure from behind, struggling with all his might, slowly sinking.

The popularity of the livestream room broke two hundred million. TikTok seemed to have received a signal, or perhaps this emotionally thin society needed a touch of warmth, as it was pinned at the top across all platforms and channels.

“We shouldn't let a hero be wronged. I'm not a fan of the Streamer, but I know that the fact that the Show Water Bright Mountain Program Production Crew could escape was entirely due to Gao Xiaofan's early discovery. The production crew needs to apologize to the hero!”

“Well said! They must apologize!!!”

The viewers in the livestream room felt a surge of anger that they couldn't vent.

Gao Xiaofan's choice to have Qiu Gu notify the production crew was his personal act; no one had the right to interfere.

But you, the production crew, escaped with your lives. If you didn't know how to be grateful, fine; if you didn't know to look for rescue immediately, fine; but you still thought about dodging responsibility in your announcement, even blaming Gao Xiaofan for being outside. If Gao Xiaofan hadn't been outside, once the debris flow gained momentum, given the elevation drop, it would have been just as Gao Xiaofan said—not a single person in xiushui village would have been spared.

Tens of millions of people quickly swarmed out of the livestream room.

The Program Production Crew didn't have time to react before their official webpage, official Weibo, and official TikTok account were completely overwhelmed.

Finally, having no other choice, they set the comment permissions on all platforms to not allow anyone to comment.

The announcement they had just posted was also quickly deleted.

As for the website being hacked, they just let it be hacked.

Some self-media creators who sensed something was wrong immediately deleted their previous trend-chasing videos, while those who didn't react and still had videos up were directly overrun.

Just as some onlookers were waking up and hadn't realized what was happening.

Six o'clock in the morning.

People's Daily spoke out.

“A hero should not be wronged. Compared to national righteousness, what we should admire most is the righteousness of self-sacrifice!”

The voice of the Official Media completely set the tone.

A hero should not be wronged! And this hero was Gao Xiaofan!

Countless self-media followed the direction of the Official Media, once again releasing videos and edited clips.

Public opinion was one-sided... Inside the hotel meeting room.

The people from Ai Qi Film and Television stared in shock at the content on the projection screen; too much had happened in just half an hour.

Beads of sweat the size of beans rolled down the Bald Man's face.

Qu Lang had a pained look on his face; he really hadn't expected the situation to be so dire at the time.

Cheng Yan's face was a question mark; how did Qiu Gu get out there?

Jing Yu was bewildered, not knowing how the tide of public opinion had changed.

“Bang!”

A loud noise rang out as the meeting room door was kicked open.

“Is this how you iQiyi do things? Why didn't you mention such a situation?”

The Mayor of Annan rushed in furiously.

“Do you know what kind of positive, uplifting story this is???”

“The Official Media has set the tone, did you see that??”

“Even if you had just told the truth, no one would have blamed you!!! You even tried to shirk responsibility???”

After the Mayor of Annan finished his tirade like an artillery blast, he looked at their bewildered expressions and gave a cold snort.

“A bunch of useless trash!”

After saying that, he turned and left.

The people in the meeting room had various expressions.

Everything changed too fast. CEO You had just fallen asleep when he was woken up by Cheng Yan knocking on his door. By the time he reached the meeting room, he saw that video playing on the screen.

Qu Lang: “CEO You, I'll say something I shouldn't: you have to fire this Director.”

The nearby Jing Yu was startled and started screaming like a shrew.

“What did you say! Fire me? Who do you think you are! On what grounds are you firing me!”

The Bald Man leaned back: “Submit your resignation yourself. I don't want to dig into your problems; let's just part ways peacefully.”

“Why? Everything was fine, why? If it wasn't for that Qiu Gu, they would never have found that camera!!”

The Bald Man nodded: “Mm, don't worry, that Qiu Gu will also be fired.”

Cheng Yan didn't say anything from the side. When he saw Qiu Gu appear there, it meant his old partner was going to have to leave iQiyi.

Qiu Gu probably understood that himself. It was a pity; he still had a whole family to support.

But wasn't it also a form of courage? One that he himself did not possess.

Jing Yu's face was pale. She stopped struggling and silently left... [Here I would like to thank reader 'Xu Fu Le' for the Great God Certification, and also other readers for their tips. To all of you: Thank you!!!]

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